AI writes over 90% of CIQ’s code, but engineers remain scarce

Hovland said he once expected that AI would mean CIQ would not need to hire another engineer. Instead, he told Business Insider colleague Ben Bergman, “We cannot hire enough engineers now.” The company helps businesses run complex computing systems, where mistakes in software can carry significant consequences for customers, including major companies and governments.

The hiring demand does not extend equally across experience levels. Hovland said CIQ hires almost no junior developers and that he did not think it had employed anyone with fewer than five to 10 years of experience. AI can generate large volumes of code, but experienced engineers are still needed to determine whether it works.

CIQ founder Gregory Kurtzer said he used AI to build a Linux-compatible operating system kernel in 11 days. He described the speed as something that “should scare people a little bit” and argued that experienced programmers who use AI can become far more productive. Developers who resist the tools because they prefer writing code themselves, he warned, risk falling behind.

The shift raises a longer-term problem for the industry: if companies hire fewer junior programmers, it may become harder for new workers to gain the experience needed for senior roles. Hovland advised young people to build their own software projects and learn how systems work under the hood. The broader value of knowledge work, the article argues, is increasingly in deciding what to create and judging the results, rather than completing every step manually.